BEWARE THE STING IN THE P R TAIL

One of the main planks of the new Conservative – Lib Dem coalition will be electoral reform. I have no problem with this, I am a democrat and putting my own political views aside I cannot accept that it is fair to the electors that 29 per cent of them voted Labour giving it 258 seats and 23 per cent voted Lib Dem with a resulting 57 seats.

Such an imbalance has to change but beware!

After Nick Griffin was defeated in Barking where the British National Party also lost its council seats it was widely accepted this signalled the end of this fundamentally racist party. I would say far from it.

The BNP polled 563,743 votes that’s more than the party of government in Scotland – the SNP with 491,386, more than the Greens, Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein, the SDLP or any of the Irish Unionist parties. Under a true p r system there would certainly be a BNP MP at Westminster now.

There are those who argue that the BNP should be banned but it is not a course I would advocate. I admit that I have shown my support for banning the Falange – the former party of Franco – in Spain but with many misgivings. For it is a truism that if you seek to ban the parties of the far right then somebody in turn will attempt to ban those on the far left?

It is by creating a fairer society that the BNP and its ilk become an anathema to all. By changing our society for the better we will snuff out the despair and despondency that feeds the BNP trough. However part of that change to a fairer society also involves creating a fairer electoral system. Fairer doesn’t mean fairer to the party we support but to all sections of the community. The fact that it could result in a BNP MP is part of the price that has to be paid – it’s called democracy.

THIS ONCE GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND

There is a hot debate in England rather than in the entire UK over the British National Party – the BNP. It is essentially an English beast although it adopts the name of the total nation.

Let me start by saying that I totally reject everything this far right group of hate stands for.

Equally I reject everything those who say they are anti-fascist, supposedly of the far left, who come out on to the streets to protest against the BNP and give a policeman a good kicking whilst they are at it, stand for too.

They are twin yolks from the same egg.

I would not want to live in either of their worlds – and equally I have no doubt my presence would not be tolerated.

That having been said I have no problem with the BNP being given a platform to speak from in the national media. The party won seats at council and European level at recent elections therefore its representatives were democratically elected.

In a democracy you have to take the rough with the smooth. I know that in some US Conservative circles, especially those expounded on Fox News, the belief is that people only have a right to democracy if they think the same as these Republicans do. Mercifully few of us chant their mantra.

Ironically I believe the BNP can be good for British democracy. The party has only gained prominence because the section of people who support this rabble believe the mainstream parties are not even addressing let alone answering their concerns.

Labour, Conservative and Liberal politicians have become far removed from the everyday problems faced by those who see no hope in their lives. Nick Griffin comes as a timely kick up the backside.

However ultimately the rise of the BNP is due to the disastrous decline of the Labour Party in its traditional heartland. The majority of BNP votes were Labour votes – you only have to look at the seats they have won to see this truth.

“What about the workers” used to be the socialist cry? Now under New Labour we are all workers – or rather we are all middle class workers, except of course we are not... nor do we inhabit the Blair, Mandelson dreamland. There every minority has a voice, has its rights set in stone – not surprising really as Blair and Mandelson are minorities themselves. Indeed they have been so busy giving voice to the New Labour project that they left the majority abandoned, rooted in silence.

What Labour has to address is the plight of the unemployed, the fears of those who live on the borderline, those who are scared because they are foreigners in their own communities, those who dare not walk on their streets or go out at night.

The Labour Party used to be their mouthpiece and refuge. If the party doesn’t rise to the challenge and take back that role the BNP will step in to fill the void. It would not give Nick Griffin the votes to rule the once green and pleasant land but it would change the political landscape... and the Labour Party then eventually democracy would be the losers.

(Of course right wing extremists are not just a British phenomenon. As Nick Griffin was proclaiming the BNP doctrine on the BBC the Guardia Civil were arresting five members of the Falange in Navarra and Zaragoza. They are alleged to have carried out violent actions in the Comunidad Foral and Pais Vasco in the name of the Falange y Tradición. The Falange was the party of the Franco dictatorship).

BNP & FALANGE: GOOD FOR DEMOCRACY?

There was outrage in the UK after the far right BNP picked up district council and Euro MP seats.

There was an indignant snort as I left the polling booth on Sunday after a fellow voter spotted a Falange voting list amongst the numerous parties on offer in Spain.

Of course the difference is that the BNP scored some success whilst the Falange secured just a fistful of votes.

I carry no candle for extremists in politics be they on the right or the left. For me the television shots of hate filled protestors outside Manchester town hall preventing the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, from entering was just as troubling as his party’s success within the same building.

However I would still argue that the participation of these parties is good for democracy.

For those of us in the middle ground it is a strong reminder that we treat democracy with disinterest or disdain at our peril. To ensure the merchants of hate and prejudice stay solely on the fringes we have to make sure that the main body politic remains healthy and meets the diverse needs of our people.

The BNP voters didn’t come from thin air. A significant proportion normally support the Labour Party so it is a sobering thought that this party of the centre-left is home to those who would vent their anger and frustration by voting for fascists.

Equally the Falange was the party of Franco. All political parties are a broad church and the centre right Partido Popular would be the normal home of those on the far right. As the PP is currently in the ascendant there is little cause to vote Falange…but that could change.

I sometimes watch Fox News to remind myself why I don’t want to be an American. There is a sector of US politicians who believe that democracy is only valid as long as it elects parties that agree with them. They argue that being a democratic nation and electing politicians who do not agree with the Republican or US objectives must somehow be fundamentally undemocratic.

Not so. The election of the BNP and the standing of the Falange is good for democracy because it reminds us of what is at stake and also gives us the opportunity at future ballots to reject basically evil creeds. If they should succeed it is because we and the centre-based political parties have failed - for that there is a heavy price to pay.